Well, I called and made an appointment with the doc to get bloodwork done and
heartworm preventative meds. I have a couple more questions... Our vet said
that is very hard to diagnose a ferret for heartworms with blood work and that
they just look for an elevated white count. Since 2 of my monsters had blood
tests a couple months ago, she wasn't interested in seeing them because she
said that at that time their white counts were normal and it so very diffcult
to diagnose anyways, she would just give them heartworm meds. The others she
wanted to get blood from prior to prescribing. So, how do you check for
heartworms with a blood test - it seems to me that if you are just looking
at white count any number of things could guessed at but not concluded. True?
Then I told her about the bovine vaccine which should be diluted and given
orally and also gave her the name of the dr. in florida that dr. williams
provided (thank you). She thought that sounded interesting and was curious to
know what she should dilute it in. She said she'd call the dr. in florida if
she couldn't figure it out, but i'm curious too... The stuff we normally give
(the peat moss patties i was desribing) is also apparently ivermectin but it
is disbursed throughout this stringy medium. The vet said there is a chance
that it is not disbursed evenly though - and unless they eat the whole thing -
may not get what they are supposed too (and they don't eat the whole thing -
we break pieces off of it).
 
One other thing - we have a little one (about 1.6lbs and 9 mos old girl) who
seems to pass little hair balls everyday. She coughs a lot too (expecially
after she wakes up). We give her 1/2 inch of petromalt about every 2 days
and she gets her fair share of linatone too. Everybody else gets up and does
their business (usualy a big ole poop and a gallon of pee) and then run around.
This little girl though poops about 10 times after she gets up just real little
poops. She poops and plays for 15 minutes then goes and poops again, etc. They
are only about 1/4 of an inch long each time and then some of them are mostly
hair. I figure she poops as much as the others - just rations them. But it
worries me with all of the hair in them and her cough. If the hair is coming
out though - that must be good? She is a holy terror though and does not
seem the worse for wear - she moves at the speed of light and sleeps like
the dead.
 
By the way, our granny ferret is doing great! 11 & a half years old and still
likes to dig in the mud. We brought her outside for the first time this year
and boy did she have fun. She is the only beastling we don't have to worry
about escaping as she moves a little slower than a sleeping turtle!!
Charlene
[Posted in FML issue 1166]